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A suspected serial killer is being questioned over the deaths of three prostitutes. The murders of three other women stretching back 20 years were also being probed. Stephen Griffiths was held on Monday by armed police in Bradford - in the industrial heartland of the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe's reign of terror 30 years ago.
The 40-year-old van driver - nicknamed 'the weirdo' by neighbours - was arrested on suspicion of murdering prostitute Suzanne Blamires, 36, who disappeared three days earlier. Officers are also investigating the disappearance of friend and near neighbour Shelley Armitage, 31, who vanished a month ago, and of another friend Susan Rushworth, 43, who has not been seen for almost a year.
The inquiry took a dramatic twist on Tuesday when a member of the public saw human remains floating in the River Aire. Police forensic officers later recovered a 'number of parts from a single woman's body'. It is believed that a woman's head was found inside a rucksack on the riverbank.
The area was sealed off and police have now found almost an entire body at the scene. Reports last night suggested it was the body of Miss Blamires, but police did not confirm the identity. Less than 24 hours after the discovery, Assistant Chief Constable Jawaid Akhtar, of West Yorkshire Police, announced the suspect was being questioned about the murders of all three women.
He said: 'This is a very thorough and painstaking inquiry into three missing people who are sex workers, with all the necessary resources and expertise devoted to it.' Police are expected to confirm the body as that of Suzanne Blamires this morning.
Sources suggested that all the files of all missing women in the North of England are now being looked at. At least three other unsolved murders of women are already being scrutinised, dating back to 1992. Last night Griffiths's shabby third floor flat - based in four-storey block near Bradford's red light district - was partially cordoned off by police.
Armed officers raided the building on Monday night. Witnesses said he was hauled outside and lay face down at gunpoint in the communal hallway. A neighbour said: 'As he was taken away he had his usual blank, cold expression on his face. There was no surprise, shock or emotion.'
Griffiths was known as 'the weirdo' by neighbours in the flats. He was also known as 'Penfold', a character in the children's cartoon show Danger Mouse because he wore round dark glasses whatever the weather.
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